Statement of eligibility to practice as architectural design engineer

The certificate of good conduct can be applied before creation and maintenance of a legal relationship (e.g. employment relationship)or in order to verify that the applicant complies with requirements defined by an act.

Please ask your employer whether you need a certificate of good conduct or not, and in case the answer is yes, what kind of certificate do they need.

The certificate of good conduct can verify that the individual

has not got any record in the register of convicted persons, and/or

is not under the effect of deprivation of civil rights, and/or

is not prohibited to exercise a profession or an activity, or

complies with requirements defined by a Hungarian act.

The application can be submitted

by mail on an official application form,

by phone via Government Customer Line 1818,

electronically using the Client Gate at the Hungarian eGovernment portal, where Client Gate identification is required,

personally at the Customer Service of the Criminal Records Authority in Budapest, in case of priority service,

personally at Hungarian Embassies or Consulates abroad.

The certificate of good conduct is free of charge 4 times a year, but there is a consular fee, if the application is submitted at a Hungarian Embassy or Consulate abroad.

The certificate of good conduct is delivered

by mail as recorded delivery (in case the application was submitted by mail, by phone or via Client Gate)

personally at the Personal Customer Service Centre in case of priority service,

The architectural design engineering activity qualifies for the preparation of the architectural design documentation that is necessary for the construction, extension, renovation, conversion, reconstruction, modernization, demolition or transportation of a physical structure, a component of a physical structure, or the combination of physical structures, or for the modification of their function.

Such activity can be performed by a person who has a licence from the registering body (hereinafter: designer or technical expert eligibility). At the time of issuing a licence, the registering body registers the natural person who received the eligibility.

Architectural design engineering activity can only be practiced by a member of the chamber.

The licence for practicing the professional activity is issued by the regional (county) architect chamber, and cases can be appealed to the national chamber (Hungarian Architect Chamber).

Conditions for eligibility to practice professional activity

The registering body permits the practice of architectural design engineering activity for a person who

is not under a prohibition that excludes him/her from such activity,

has a clean criminal record, and

has the professional higher education qualifications and experience determined in Government Decree 104/2006. (IV. 28) Korm. and satisfies the other conditions specified in the Decree.

The person performing architectural design engineering activity can only work on design projects that are in the field for which he/she is eligible according to this law. A legal entity or an organization without a legal personality may only perform such activities if one of its members or legal employees has designer eligibility and this member or employee participates in the activities.

The designer has to sign the architectural design plans, documentation and calculations prepared by him/her, and he/she has to sign the designer statement as well. Next to the signature, the designer also has to provide his/her qualifications, address (home address, registered office or business place) and his/her designer registration number. The qualifications of the designer have to be listed – the same way the denomination in the degree without abbreviations – on the designer statement which is included in the detailed design documentation and is attached to the application for the construction permit (establishment licence).

The designer is required to keep the prepared urban planning and architectural design plans for at least ten (10) years from the date of handing them over to the principal, and he/she has to keep annual records of these documents.

For third-country nationals, the eligibility to practice professional activity can be determined on the basis of reciprocity.

A person is eligible for the practice of professional activity without membership in the chamber if he/she:

does not have the education that would make him/her eligible for membership in the chamber, but had become eligible to practice professional activity before the decree became effective – registered separately;

is a citizen of a member state practicing the professional activity in the framework of the freedom to provide services;

a person with a letter of agreement as determined in the law on the professional chambers of designer and expert engineers and architects.

Administration service fee

At the time of submitting the application, 30,000 HUF administrative service fee has to be paid to the account of the acting authority by the person submitting the application for licence of architectural design engineering activity. The administrative service fee for the appealing process is also 30,000 HUF.

Submitting a licence application for practicing a professional activity

The licence application for practicing a professional activity can be submitted on a form at the appropriate regional professional chamber according to the residence of the applicant. The application must include the following attachments:

a certified copy of the degree certificate proving the professional qualification (and additional qualifications if needed) if it is not on file in the register of the chamber yet;

a copy of the transcript or the appendix of the degree certificate must also be presented for the review of the specialization if the applicant earned his/her diploma in a credit system or if the chamber requests it for the determination of the specialization;

proof of payment of the administration fee related to the registration as determined by a special legislation;

a document proving the professional experien

the certification for passing the eligibility exam or a document proving the exemption from the exam.

The application for eligibility for a construction technical expert has to include – in addition to the above said documents – a resume detailing the applicant’s professional experience.

A simple copy of the original degree certificate proving the qualification, on which the competent chamber marks that it matches the original document, can be accepted instead of a notarized copy, provided the original document is also presented at the same time.

Regarding the cross-border provision of services, the provider that has the right to freedom to provide services has to include the following in its declaration (apart from the data determined above) regarding the activities within Hungary as part of a cross-border provision of services:

nationality of the provider, the name of the register and the registration number of the provider for the case of a legal entity or an organization without a legal personality that has the nationality of another EEA state and is registered therein

designation of the EEA state in which the provider is based,

a declaration of the provider that it intends to perform the activities as part of a cross-border provision of services, and the name of the licensing and registering authority, and the licence or registration number of the provider if the servicing activity of the provider requires licensing or registration in the EEA state where the provider is based.

Please click here to read the general conditions of cross-border service provision in Hungary.

The simplified resolution accepting the application contains

the name, number, major, specialization and issuer of the degree,

the designation of the fields for designer and expert activities,

the nature of the areas of activity,

a registration code that is appropriate for eligibility identification (characters according to Appendices 1-3, the code for the regional chamber and the registration number),

information about the legal consequences for failing to prove the satisfaction of the continuing education requirements in accordance with a special legislation.

The regional professional chambers – in addition to the above – upon request may enter into the register the field or area for which the applicant has proven outstanding experience.

The practitioner is required to notify the regional professional chamber in writing about any change in his/her registered data within eight (8) business days.

The regional professional chamber revokes its licence and simultaneously deletes the person from the register if he/she fails to prove the satisfaction of the continuing education requirements regularly, in accordance with a special legislation. The registration can be suspended. The suspension period must be reported to the regional professional chamber that maintains the register.

During the suspension period, the practicing of professional activities is prohibited and it is not required to prove the satisfaction of the continued education requirements. After the deadline for satisfying the continued education requirement, the suspended professional activities can be resumed if the person requesting the termination of the suspension for the registry entry provides proof for the satisfaction of his/her continued education requirements.

The contact data of the architect chambers can be found here. The address of the Hungarian Architect Chamber is 1088 Budapest, Ötpacsirta u. 2., and you can ask for more information at the mek@mek.hu email address.